The early effects of James Franklin’s departure from Penn State made it initially seem like Penn State made the wrong decision, but it also doesn’t sound like Franklin had too easy of a job early on down in Blacksburg. As the early signing period approached, the recruiting landscape between the two programs changed a ton, as a few PSU recruits decided to head to VT.
According to Eli Lederman of ESPN, the Hokies’ recruiting situation came because of what Franklin did at Penn State, which put the Nittany Lions in a weird spot early on.
“Virginia Tech's gain came at significant expense to Penn State, which saw its initial 2026 class crater in the lead-up to the early signing period. With nearly 50% of Franklin's former Nittany Lions class in tow, the Hokies secured the potential foundation to an ambitious rebuild on a campus just 367 miles south of Happy Valley.
“To pull it off, Franklin leaned on long-standing relationships, a trusted recruiting staff from Penn State, a significant financial push on the recruiting trail and a pair of frantic late-November recruiting weekends, in turn offering an immediate window into the promising impact Franklin's presence could bring to a football program that has posted just one winning season since 2020,” he wrote.
Losing nearly half of a recruiting class is brutal for any program, let alone one that was a top class in the country. Many of the prospects who flipped or followed Franklin were expected to be nice players at Penn State.
Franklin’s recruiting success has always been relationship-driven, something he did well at Penn State, and an aspect he had to work in at Virginia Tech.
"They're asking me who the coordinators are going to be? And I just said, you have to trust me," he told ESPN. "'Who is my position coach going to be?' And I just said, you have to trust me."
Financial backing also plays a role, especially in the NIL era, as Virginia Tech was able to put together a decent class due to the cash it had. Penn State also has one of the best NIL situations in all of college football, so it’s not too big of a deal.
While the early impact was far from ideal, Penn State is doing just fine.